This wont probably do anything, but you should clean all your fuses, use a piece of sand paper, and use contact cleanner on the fuse holder

 

Knowing which model year you have will help in identifying electrical items to check. The '87 '88's are somewhat different than the later years. When it won't start and you say it doesn't even dim the ignition lights, does the headlight go out ? If the ignition lights don't dim, that would indicate that the starter motor is not being energized. It takes a lot of amps to turn that motor over since it's turning your engine over too. The start switch controls a relay which then applies power the the starter motor. The relay is located near the battery. When you press the start switch, listen to see whether or not you're hearing the start relay "click" or not. That should give you some direction as to where to go next. Let us know what you find.

Oh yea another thing. I've seen dirty contacts on the engine stop switch (the one near the throttle) produce the same symptoms you're describing. It happened on 2 F3's of ours. If those contacts open, it will kill your engine immediately, and if you try to start, you get no indication of the lights dimming when pressing the start button.

 

Sorry guys, its a 1990 (British registered)

 

FOUND IT [sm=thanx.gif]
The gremlin has been found and dealt with accordingly [sm=shootshoot.gif]
Thank you all for your help,tips and encouragement,the culprit was a broken wire in the main loom,the outer insullation was intact but the copper core was broken. Found it by pressing and holding the starter button downand then working around evey wire and connection untill it tried to spin over.
Its sideways raining here at the moment so a road test can wait till tomorrow.
Ive got a better idea anyway[sm=icon_guiness.gif][sm=icon_guiness.gif][sm=outcold.gif]

 

Exactly what happened to me this summer.. one of these can take a long time to find, way to go!

 

EXCELLENT !!